Cara Darling
by i-am-undiscovered
Summary: Wendy and her daughter Cara try to escape Wendy's abusive husband. So Wendy sends Cara to Neverland in the care of the boy she has always loved. . . will Cara also find a love of her own there?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_"You know that place between sleep and awake? The place where you can still remember dreaming? That's where I'll always love you. That's where I'll be waiting."_

My mother used to say that to me every night. My mother's name is Wendy, Wendy Darling. She told me stories of Neverland and Peter Pan. I thought Peter Pan was so adventurous, so heroic, and so full of youth. I may have had these views because my mother used to be in love with him, or so she claims, as if he was real. Obviously she was partial to Peter, but I was drawn to one of the less prominent characters; Felix was a Lost Boy, Peter's second in command. Just as daring, reckless, and cunning as Peter, Felix also had a kind and protective side. He was tall, taller even then Peter. They were both quite muscular. (Hiking through the jungles of Neverland and fashioning your own weapons will do that for you). While Peter had bright green eyes, Felix had somber, yet beautiful, blue ones. He also had a scar going from his right ear down to his angular jaw. The scar was an intriguing contrast against his otherwise unblemished tan skin. Peter, on the other hand, was more fair-skinned; his face was smattered with freckles. "Cara!" my mother called. "Come down for dinner!" My uncles, John and Michael, were coming over. They also told stories of Neverland. They told tales of brotherhood between the Lost Boys, the battles they fought in, and the feasts with the Indians.

Oh, but I haven't told you about my father… the pig. He abuses me and my mother daily. He raped her and, well, that's how I was conceived. Not the ideal birth story, I know. But even though I was conceived out of so evil an action, my mother loves me dearly, and I her. Anyway, sometimes I wish I could just escape to Neverland with her to see Peter Pan and Felix, the Lost Boys, the Indians, the pirates, the fairies, and the mermaids. So many fantastical things existed in this place of my mother's imagination; I wished it was real with all my heart. Then we could run away there and never come back. I especially wished this that night… little did I know, my wish was about to come true.

When I walked down the stairs to the dining room, I heard my father yelling. "Oh no, this can't be good." I thought. I picked up my pace as I walked toward the noise. What I saw horrified me: my mother was holding her face, crying and bleeding, and my father standing over her with bloody knuckles and a scowl on his face. "YOU BASTARD!" I yelled, overcome with rage. I sprinted toward him and hit him with every ounce of my strength. I attacked every bit of him I could see. He spluttered with shock, then seemed to realize what was happening and started hitting back. "Stop it! Both of you, stop!" my mother was shrieking, but neither of us paid her any mind because we were in the midst of a very intense fight of both fists and words. He knocked me over and right as he was about to hit me one last time, my mother stood up, and with a completely calm look over her face, whacked him over the head with a frying pan, effectively knocking him out.

"Come on, Cara. We need to get out of here." My mother said, urgently taking my hand and dragging me up to my room. She opened the window and to my surprise, wolf-whistled out the window into the night. "He'll be here soon. Get a bag together, a small one, only of necessities." "Mom, what's going on? Who's coming?" My mother slowly turned around, looked me in the eye and said very seriously, "Peter. Peter Pan."


	2. Chapter 2

"Peter Pan? Are you serious, Mom? Now is not the time for you to tell me another made-up story." I said, exasperated. "Oh Cara," she said, cupping my face. "Peter, as well as everything else I've told you about Neverland, is all very real."

"Of course I'm real. Hello, Wendy. Nice to see you again," a male voice said from the window. I whipped around. Standing there was a boy of about 5'11, who had reddish-brown hair and freckles, wearing a green tunic and pants that perfectly matched his eyes. "Hello Peter," my mother said, all of a sudden becoming bashful. "You're looking, well, just as you always do." She said with a little chuckle. Peter grinned, and then glanced at me. "Who is this? She looks just like you." He said, giving me a small smile. I just gaped at him. "There is no way any of this could be real", I thought. Oh, but it was. And it would be very short-lived when my father woke up, I realized. Quickly regaining my composure, I hurriedly introduced myself. "Cara Darling, Mr. Pan. Pleasure's all mine. Now, my father is unconscious downstairs, and he'll come back to beat us some more once he figures out what happened. So whatever you're doing here, better to make it quick." Peter looked questioningly at my mother, but she just shrugged.

"Why, I'm here to take you to Neverland, of course! Both of you." He said, giving her a look. "But Peter. . ." my mother trailed off, only half arguing. "Well let's go then," I said, hoping to get a move on before Father came upstairs and kicked down the door. "She likes to get things done," Peter chuckled. My mother looked fondly at me. Peter yanked a pouch of glittery dust from around his neck and sprinkled it over the three of us. As we began to rise into the air, the door burst open, a fuming mad Father snarling profanities at us. "Fly!" we all said in unison. And with that we jumped from the window.

We all linked hands as we flew through the night sky. Peter led us up and up and up, so high until I thought we would fly straight into the stars. "Open your eyes," Mom whispered, her voice sounding awed. I complied, and I was immensely happy I did. Before me lay turquoise waters lapping at white sandy beaches. There were lush jungles and vibrant forests, and I could see the Indian settlements, the smoke winding up out of their camp. I could see the infamous Jolly Roger, with pirates milling about. Quickly, Peter flew us into the heart of the island. We were in a clearing with trees surrounding us on all sides. There was only one discrepancy in the perfect scenery: a tree had a slight discoloration on its bark. Sure enough, Peter walked over to the tree and pressed on it. To my surprise, the bottom of the tree dropped out to form a tunnel. Mom and Peter linked hands and walked towards it. I followed them, still trying to process that I was actually in Neverland. We soon arrived at the common room of the Lost Boys' hideout. I heard shouts of "Peter's back!", "Father!", "Who's he got with him?", "It's mother!", "Mother!", and, "Who's the other girl?". It was all very overwhelming as these cries were one after the other, quite rapidly. "Hello boys," Mom said. "It's so good to be home."


	3. Chapter 3

"This is my daughter, Cara," she introduced me. I timidly stepped into the light. I felt the eyes of boys of many ages upon me, assessing me. It was all silent in the room, my mother and Peter looking somewhat nervous. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, one of the younger boys piped up, "She doesn't talk much." I responded with a smile, crouching down to meet his eye level, "That's because I don't have much to say."

"Oh, I think you have plenty you'd like to say," a deep voice said behind me. I slowly turned around, already knowing who it would be. I craned my head up to see his face, and I could not mistake the scar, or the deep pools of blue that were his eyes. "Felix," I breathed. A faint look of amusement fluttered over his features. "So you've heard of me. Well, I have heard of you too. Though, Peter's description of your beauty does not do you justice, Cara Darling." He said as he took my hand and kissed it. I blushed and looked away. "Alright Felix, charming as you may be, I'll have to ask that you refrain from hitting on my daughter." Mom said from behind us. Felix laughed and I turned around and glared at her. She simply looked at me sternly. "I think I should show her around, _Wendybird." _He said, completely ignoring her request, though I couldn't say I was upset about that.

Felix abruptly took my hand and led me out of the common room. I followed him, struggling to keep up with his long strides. He showed me the room where most of the boys slept. It was dirty and messy, just how you would expect any boy's room to be. Then he showed me his room, somewhat shyly. To my surprise, it was very orderly and sparse, save for some handmade trinkets and a notebook on the bed. I walked over to it and picked it up. "Oh! I… uh… meant to put that away… I didn't know anyone was coming…" he trailed off, stuttering. I ignored him, cute as he was, and flipped through the book. It was a book of sketches, marvelous ones at that. He sketched the boys some, but mostly I was intrigued by his drawings of the island. They were so detailed and vivid; I couldn't believe they had come from his hand. I was in awe of his talent. As I flipped to the back of the book I came across a few drawings of a woman; she seemed middle aged and kind faced, with laugh lines around her eyes. Underneath one of the sketches, there was a note. It read,

_"Mother- I'm sorry that I left you. I'm so, so sorry. I just couldn't stand to be around them anymore. I wish I could have taken you with me. I regret it with all my heart that you were left behind to deal with that monster. I promise I will come back for you. I love you. Yours Forever, Felix."_

I looked up, and he looked away. I put the notebook back down and walked up to him, touching his face. He slowly swung his head back to me and I could see the tears glistening in his eyes. I wrapped my arms around his neck and enveloped him in a fierce hug. At first he didn't know what to do, but then he put his arms around my waist and hugged me back.

"I should explain," he said after our long embrace. "You don't have to," I said gently. "I know, but… I want to," he responded. "Okay," he began, "first of all, my father was… he wasn't a nice man. He sometimes did things to me and my mother. Bad things. He would hit us and punch us until we bled. He came at me one night. He was drunk, and he had broken his beer bottle. He blamed me for that and everything else that went wrong in his miserable life. He came at me with the broken glass, and, well, that's how I got this," he said, gesturing to his scar. "After that, I ran away. I couldn't take it anymore, and that's when Peter found me. He took me away to Neverland and I've been happy here, really I have. I just always carry around with me this guilt at leaving her. I don't expect you to understand any of this. After all, you have Wendy as your mom." "Oh, but I do understand," I said softly. I rolled up my sleeve to show him the burn scars where my father put out his cigarettes on my arm. I told him my story and how I got there. "Oh Cara," he breathed, taking my face in one hand. I closed my eyes and relaxed into his touch. When I opened my eyes again, his face was much closer to mine, and I could almost feel the ghosting of his lips on mine. Then someone coughed in the doorway. It was Peter. "So close," I thought I heard Felix whisper before he moved away. "What is it, Peter?" His gruff façade back on. "There's something I need the two of you to see."


	4. Chapter 4

We walked out of Felix's room, my heart still aching from the exchange that had just occurred. Peter was talking. "I took Wendy to the fountain. I thought maybe that would make her happy. It was one of her favorite places in Neverland. I didn't think she'd drink it…" "Wait, hold on, what fountain? And is it bad that she drank it? Is my mother okay?" I questioned him. Peter grinned. "See for yourself!" And with that we arrived at the common room. Standing in it was a young girl, about our age, with curly brown hair, wearing a nightgown with blue ribbon. "Mom?" I asked the girl, astonished.

"Hello dear. Yes it's me," the girl – Mom – said. "But, I don't understand… how…? What…?" I trailed off. I looked over at Felix and he nodded in understanding. He explained, "On the far east side of the island, there is a naturally supplied spring that runs under the ground. It is what keeps the island so youthful. No one except us knows about it. If Hook found it, he might use it against us… anyway, correct me if I'm wrong Peter, but Wendy was too curious for her own good and she drank from it. Some of that youth in the spring transferred to her physically. The spring only gives you what your heart desires, nothing more. I guess Wendy wanted to be young again, so that's what the fountain gave her." "It's true. I don't regret having you, Cara, know that, but there are some parts I would do over in my youth. Following my heart, for example," my mom said, quickly glancing at Peter. Peter didn't seem to notice, though I thought I saw his ears turn a bit red. "Well," he said, "now that we've got our Wendy back, I think it's about time we showed Cara around the island."

Still reeling from the fact that my _mother _was now my age, I blindly said yes. "Great!" Felix and Peter said in unison. "Here we go!" and we all linked hands and ran up the tunnel into the clearing. Once there, we flew up through the trees. Every time, the sight made my breath catch in my throat. I noticed that we were headed to the shore, more specifically, a cove. "Mermaid Lagoon," I whispered. Felix grinned, nodding at me. And it was indeed where we were headed. I was excited, but also a bit nervous. I didn't know why, I just had an uneasy feeling in my stomach, like this wasn't going to go well. I pushed my doubts aside and let myself be excited. We got to the quiet lagoon and all was calm. You could see the mermaids moving under the water, circling the rocks on which we stood. It was quite terrifying actually, like sharks circling a wounded seal.

I saw a head break through the surface with barely a ripple. She was stunning; she had long golden hair and blue eyes that perfectly reflected the sea. Her tail was a mixture of teal and sparkling silver. I couldn't stop staring and she noticed. With a laugh like water cascading down a waterfall, she swam over to us, gesturing to her sisters to join. One by one, I saw fiery reds, chocolaty browns, vibrant blues and greens and purples pop up from under the water. They were each as gorgeous as the first. Treading water in place with their powerful-looking tails, they began to giggle. Unsure of what the joke was, I chuckled as well, which made them laugh harder. "That's enough Nereida," Felix said sternly. "What?" the blond asked. "We're only laughing. And you look so cute when you're angry, I must say." The others joined in with shouts of, "Yeah, he is!" "Go get him Ner!" "Ooooh, I think he's blushing," and "Just kiss already!" That one killed me. I don't know why, but I was already insanely overprotective of Felix. I certainly did not want him kissing some fish. But before I could say anything, the mermaid – Nereida - shot me a very mischievous look and grabbed Felix by the collar and kissed him full on the mouth. To his credit, he looked completely shocked, and he pushed her away immediately. I had to look away, however, because my furiously red cheeks would give away my jealousy. Ignoring the beautiful creature, he hopped from rock to rock straight over to me. "Cara," he said in a low voice. "That didn't mean anything. I- I didn't know she was going to do that. I'm sorry." He said, looking down. I glanced at his face and saw the sincerity there. "It's really none of my business. You can kiss whoever you please. She's beautiful, so are you, so it doesn't matter. We haven't known each other very long after all. It's not like you have feelings for me." I shot back cruelly. I don't know what came over me. It was always just my defense mechanism that when I got hurt, I pretended not to care, and I denied that anyone else cared. I wished with all my heart that I could take those words back when I saw the hurt on his face. It was only there for a second, he covered it with a mask of stoic non-emotion. But I could see it lingering in his eyes. He turned and flew off without a word.

Mom and Peter came up to me, disappointment clear on their faces. "What?" I asked, already knowing the answer. "You didn't have to be that nasty to him," said Peter. "He's like my brother… I know what he's thinking. He cares a lot about you, Cara. And you just shut him down." "I- I didn't mean to. I wasn't thinking, I just, I was jealous and, oh God, what have I done? I have to fix this." I rambled. "I think I know where he'll be," Mom said.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

She pointed me in the right direction and I immediately flew off in search of him. As I flew, I tried to think of what I would say to him, but nothing was coming. "Great," I thought to myself, "the one boy in my life that has actually treated me right, even cared about me, and I went and screwed it up." I started thinking about his eyes and his scar and the way his arms felt wrapped around me. I realized that even though we just met, I felt like I had known him for years, and I have loved him all the while. "Do I love him?" I thought. "Not now, maybe, but in the future… it's quite possible." I reasoned. But my heart swelled every time I thought about him and my stomach did backflips whenever I talked to him. Were those not signs of young love? I was deep into my internal debate; I almost missed where I was going. However, I realized just in time and slowed down.

What I saw was heartbreaking: in what seemed like a man-made tree house, at the very top of the trees, Felix sat, back facing the world. I quietly flew up to the platform and walked up behind him. I cleared my throat so as to not scare him. He flinched and slowly turned around. His eyes were hard and guarded, and maybe a little tearstained. He saw me and turned back around. Ignoring the pain in my heart that that gave me, I sat down next to him. "Felix…" I whispered. He closed his eyes and seemed to sink into himself for a moment. When he came out again, his eyes were glistening; but with tears, I thought, of forgiveness. He looked at me with such raw emotion, and slowly let my walls melt away. We had an unspoken conversation and then, all at once, we burst out with cries of, "I'm sorry," I said. "I forgive you," he replied sincerely. "I love you, but I'm scared." I looked away, ashamed. He took my chin and made me look into his eyes. "You don't need to be afraid. I'll always love you." And with that he gently tilted my head up and kissed me softly. I melted into his gentle touch and responded enthusiastically; I kissed him back with every ounce of emotion I had left.

After a while, we broke apart, both a little delirious. I looked up into his face and smiled at him. He looked back down at me, joy plain in his eyes. Then there was a bloodcurdling screech. He whipped around, checking for the threat, holding me close against him. "Felix, look out!" someone yelled as we were tackled to the floor. It was Peter. As I looked up, arrows whizzed by past my face and I could see that they were dipped in poison. The black sludge dripped lazily from the tips and when they hit the ground, the floor hissed and sizzled. There was a quick break from the bombardment of the artillery and we took advantage of it; we ran as fast and as hard as we could toward the makeshift shelter Felix had constructed, probably years before. We dove into the hut just as they started firing again. Arrows pierced through the walls and Felix covered me so as to make sure I didn't get hit. "What the hell is going on here?" he yelled. Peter looked grimly at us both and uttered a single syllable: "Hook."


End file.
